He laughed, cried, spoke Italian and ate churros while playing the piano with sugar-coated fingers. The Catalan artist’s concert for I-Days in Milan was a celebration of dance and humanity among 30,000 friends
Photo: Aldara Zararoa/WireImage for ABA
“What a mess,” Rosalia sighs into the microphone as they struggle downstage to understand what she’s asking. She points to a girl in the front row. We’re halfway through the show. A technician tries to hand out a poster of a fan, but we’re not there. They struggle, but Rosalia smiles with amusement at this awkward situation of embarrassment. Then finally in his hand comes a lined aluminum tray. She opens it and takes out some churros, which are apparently one of her favorite foods. The girl prepared them for him. He tastes a delicious cheese and sits down at the piano. He’s still chewing when he starts playing Hentai, which is one of the softest songs in the set. After three chords he stops and laughs: “I have sugar on my fingers!”. She wipes her fingers and kisses the camera which is following her. The audience exploded. Therefore hentai, a song about sex and God that becomes heartwarming in Rosalia’s sweet hands. Sing along to the latest ‘hentai’ with gorgeous vibrato. A tear falls. Then she leans over the piano and looks straight across the room, smiling. The 30,000 MotoMami and MotoPapi present dissolve into a resounding ‘Oooh’.
But let’s take a step back. Compared to what was seen six months earlier during the only Italian date of the winter tour in Milan, the show brought to I-Days in Milan last night is practically the same scaffolding, with the exception of a few shorter episodes and which are practical. has literally tripled. In a setlist that has been truncated (we go from 31 to 21 songs) there are novelties I kiss And vampiretaken from the new joint EP with him beginner elementaryA soulful cover of reggaetonero Rau Alejandro, heroes A faster version of this, by Enrique Iglesias despecha And LLYLM, the single released last January. There’s very little room left in this new lineup structure el mal querer – Breakthrough Album – In Favor motomami Which still looks incredibly inspiring a year after its release. Rosalia is no longer flamenco, today she is the most important pop artist of her generation.
Photo: Kimberley Ross
It’s liberating to see 30,000 people grooving to Rosalia’s beats. A physical emancipation, certainly, but also and above all a cultural emancipation. In recent years we haven’t been able to rediscover the body through dance. On the one hand, the explosion of Latin music in the world has brought the focus back on the hips instead of the head, on the other hand, the explosion of TikTok ballet has taught a new generation to stop expressing their feelings through their own medium. Body. And so it is that for an hour and a half the public – with a demographic identity between 20 and 40 years old – does not stop moving in a wide, clear, liberating way with the help of the rhythmic solutions of Rosalia, which moves between the annals of Latin Is. Rhythm (from Bachata) Popularity to flamenco badlyfrom K Dembo with Altura by Experimental Reggaeton saoko) with an ability to chew, mix, hybridize genres in unprecedented ways, while she and her dancers physically dominate the stage.
And it doesn’t really matter that the show has been the victim of a series of technical problems that have long plagued the concert’s viewing system; Rosalia never lost control through it all. When it was time to buy, he never succumbed to panic, concealing the difficulties by conversing – in genuinely jealous Italian – with the public. Because what is clear is that Rosalia is really in charge, really confident in herself, in her co-workers, in her show. So much so that he can play an intimate piece on the piano while chewing churros, laugh about it and start over like we were at an evening out with friends. This is Rosalia’s real (super) power: she still looks like one of us. Of course, everyone present knows that is not the case, he is still a superstar putting on a show, but his camaraderie on stage, the show and the way he enters the audience makes us forget the distance. She cries, laughs, moves around, gets agitated. And nothing feels fake or made up. There is tremendous emotionality in it and it is clear. It exists, it is among us. And we believe them.
There’s a difference between being a pop star and being a performer on stage. The pop star performs his music after hundreds of hours of rehearsal, the artist – always after hundreds of hours of rehearsal – lives it. And the same thing is undeniable in Rosalia. Not only an incredible performer, able to handle the stage alone (without musicians and with the help of only eight dancers) mesmerizing the audience with simple moves, one stop, one look into the camera (the visual part, as we told you). given December she is fundamental in the workings of the show), not only a very strong dancer and an impeccable singer (in live performances of the choreography and poses, there is a risk of underestimating her vocals which find their maximum expression in the song-plus-the whole set song cover heroes), but a human forever. And this – believe me – is somewhat rare. This is not something you find at a Dua Lipa or Beyoncé concert, just to mention best in the game, It is something that only he now has at this stage. And to not acknowledge that would be to miss a fundamental part of what Rosalia has done for pop music and is doing today: motomamiafter all, it is Yeezus of this decade. And this tour is confirmation that – today – there is an artist (only thirty years old) capable of making a difference.